Case Law

Question 1

Marbury v. Madison, US, 1803

Answer 1

court has authority for judicial review of congressional and presidential actions

Question 2

Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee, US, 1816

Answer 2

authority of judicial review of state and local actions

Question 3

Brown v. Board of Education, US, 1954

Answer 3

segregation as unconstitutional

Question 4

Prince Napoleon, CE, 1875

Answer 4

issue of the political question that can or cannot be reviewed by the court

CE abandons the idea that a political motive prohibits it from reviewing the act

even if it was political to remove from the army ranks a family member of Napoleon, it doesn’t mean there can be no review

review in the situation and CE deemed it legal to remove him from the army

Question 5

Barron v. Mayor & City Council of Baltimore, US, 1833

Answer 5

question of whether the bill of rights only applies to the federation/federal government or also states and local entities

5th amendment required that you get compensation if your property is taken by the federation - does it apply to the city?

bill of rights applied only to the federal government and thus doesn’t apply to private entities

discrepancy between European conception of fundamental rights which require positive action from the state

Question 6

Twining v. New Jersey, US, 1908

Answer 6

some rights provided for in the bill of rights will be applicable to the states because they are part of due process and not because they are in the bill of rights

Question 7

Matthews v. Eldridge, US, 1976

Answer 7

due process as flexible and protection needed depends on the situation

argument of the termination of disability benefits prior to a hearing violated due process

court found that it did not violate due process rights

balancing test with 3 factors

• private interest that will be affected by state action
• risk of an erroneous deprivation of such an interest (possibility of error and how that affects private interest)
• government interest (fiscal/administrative burdens)

problems

• interpretation as medical records as highly reliable
• disassociation of disability and financial need (not separable here)

Question 8

Maaouia v. France, ECHR, 2000

Answer 8

argument that the length of proceedings for remission of the exclusion order was unreasonable and breached Article 6(1) of the convention

is Article 6 applicable to decisions regarding the entry, stay and deportation of aliens?

found not applicable given that these decisions do not concern the determination of an applicant’s civil rights or obligations of a criminal charge against him within Article 6(1)

Question 9

Golder v. UK, ECHR, 1975

Answer 9

question of whether the right to access courts is included in Article 6(1)
- argument that Golder was refused access when refused the possibility to see a lawyer

also question of whether there was a violation of Article 8 (right to correspondence)

majority opinion that there was a violation of Article 6(1)
- not spelled out in Article 6(1) that there is access to court but you need to interpret it that way and he has that access by default

home secretary probably biased in judgement since there would be legal action against the officer and home secretary

also found a violation of

• impediment as a form of interference
• small obstacles are still violations

set a precedent in saying that the right to access courts is found in Article 6(1)

Question 10

Bounds v. Smith, US, 1977

Answer 10

question about whether the state has to protect the right of prisoners to access courts by providing law libraries or alternative sources of legal knowledge

district court said library plans are sufficient

states should have affirmative obligations to ensure all prisoners have meaningful access to courts
- cost of protecting a constitutional right that is not justified with denial which is what happened at the district court level

SC said that libraries are not the only way to fulfil this constitutional right but affirmed district court decision

Question 11

Boddie v. Conneticut, US, 1971

Answer 11

court states you have a right to divorce and you cannot be deprived of access to courts because of filing fees for your divorce

Question 12

Minister of Agriculture vs. Ms Lamotte, CE, 1950

Answer 12

always able to ask for judicial review of administrative acts

right to access court should not be substantially impaired

Question 13

Organic Act Regarding the Status of Autonomy of French Polynesia, CC, 1996

Answer 13

CC considered it would be unconstitutional because you cannot bar individuals from challenging administrative acts in such a way, given the importance of respect for the proper distribution of powers between levels

principle that you can access court and challenge/ask for judicial review of administrative action

Question 14

Morrison v. Olson, US, 1988

Answer 14

question of whether the ethics in government act of 1978 violate the constitutional principle of the separation of powers

issues of whether the independent counsel is an inferior officer

means of selecting independent counsel didn’t violate the appointments clause and the act was not offensive to the separation of powers since it did not interfere with the functions of the executive branch.

Question 15

Union syndicale des Magistrats, CC, 2017

Answer 15

whether the hierarchy between public prosecution and the executive compatible with the constitutional principle of an independent judiciary

Question 16

Sacilor Lormines v. France, ECHR, 2006

Answer 16

concepts of independent and objective impartiality as closely linked

whether the CE had the requisite appearance of independence or the requisite objective impartiality

Question 17

Caperton v. Massey, US, 2008

Answer 17

when federal due process clause requires the disqualification of a judge

broad understanding taken by the court

Question 18

Morice v. France, ECHR, 2015

Answer 18

question of the liberty of expression protected under Article 10 and Article 6(1)

whether it was fair for a lawyer to say judges were corrupted/unfair/impartial and then be judged by judges who publicly supported the judges he accused of being impartial

violation of freedom of expression in Article 10 (which is not the same for journalists and attorneys) but also Article 6 since the court did not appear to be neutral or impartial

Question 19

Kresse v. France, ECHR, 2001

Answer 19

again the question of whether proceedings had reached an excessive duration that violated Article 6(1)

also the idea that there was no fair trial since she was unable to obtain prior notice of the government commissioner’s conclusions and was not able to respond in the hearing
- participation of the government commissioner in the deliberations of the CE

court did not find a violation with regards to the impossibility of replying to the government commissioner at the hearing
- also no violation with regards to the commissioner’s presence since they act as a second reporting judge (transparency of the decision-making process)

Question 20

Lewis v. Casey, US, 1996

Answer 20

came after Bounds that did not create a freestanding right to a law library or legal assistance

prisoners have a constitutional right to access the courts but this is not violated when a prison lacks legal research facilities or legal assistance unless prisoners have been substantially harmed by these deficiencies

actual injury is required to establish standing for a violation of constitutional rights

Question 21

Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission, US, 2018

Answer 21

Securities and Exchange Commission’s administrative law judges as officers of the US (subject to the Appointments Clause)

charged Lucia with violating certain securities laws

Question 22

Mr J. Tarek [Composition of the Juvenile Court], CC, 2011

Answer 22

CC considered the situation of what happens when one judge follows the juvenile person and helps them “get better” through certain measures and if that person who is deciding all the measures and referring them is also sitting on the bench when it comes to their trial

On one hand, the CC thinks that the balance between impartiality and necessity of re-education is fair when it comes to the fact that the judge follows the child and issue measures against them. But the same judge cannot sit on the trial bench afterwards.

Question 23

Banque Populaire Côte d’Azur [Disciplinary Power of the Banking Commission], CC, 2011

Answer 23

same as Tarek decision which also applies to administrative agencies

principle of independence and impartiality has to apply

when it came to the banking commission, there was not a separation between who initiates the proceedings and who rules on the breaches. Traditional issue of having the person who decides that the proceedings take place and the person who decides the sanctions being separate.